There is no standard therapy for sickle cell disease or thalassemia. Some patients continued expression of small amounts of fatal globin has completely prevented clinical disease in these disorders, suggesting that, continued expression of the adult fetal globin gene after birth will prevent manifestations of disease. Chemotherapeutic agents are toxic in children. The aim of this proposal is to apply a new class of compound, isobutyramide an analogue of butyric acid to reactivate the fetal globin gene expression.